Relay



Jan. 2, 1934. o. s. FIELD 1,942,142

' RELAY Filed Nov. 1, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet l INVEN15 54 BY 45. flMTQRN'EY Jari. 2, 1934.

O. S. FIELD RELAY Filed Nov. 1, 1932 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 INVENTO Patented Jan. 2, 1934 w 4 I UNITED STATES PATENT oFFicE- RELAY Oscar S. Field, Rochester, N. Y., assignor to General Railway Signal Company, Rochester, N. Y.

Application November 1,1932. Serial No. 640,698 8 Claims. (01. 175-336) This invention relates to relays and more parpresent invention shown in a simplified manner ticularly to a direct current type of relay adapted to illustrate the operation thereof I a for use in railway signalling. The armature supporting means proposed in The usual type of relay used in railway sigaccordance with the present invention is shown;

' I nalling practice employs an armature which is for convenience in the accompanying drawings as (19 operable about pivot pins or trunnions. Under replacing the trunnion arrangement of such a ordinary conditions the bearing provided by these relay as disclosed in the patent to O. S. FieldNo. trunnions permits a free movement of the arma- 1,824,129 dated September 22, 1931, but it is to be ture therein, butit has been found that when understood that this arrangement may similarly such armature pivoting arrangements are exbe applied to any relay having a tractive type 65- posed to the atmosphere of certain localities, sufiiarmature. The construction of this particular cient corrision will take place to greatly increase relay may be clearly understood by referring to the friction of the pivot bearing. The railway the above patent, and consequently a very brief signalling circuits employing these relays are description of this portion of thedrawings-will 15, so arranged that the safety of train movements be considered sufficient. a I

is dependent on the dropping of the armature Referring to the accompanying drawings, the after a reduction or an interruption of the energy essential parts of the relay are mounted on an applied to the armature operating means, and insulating top member 1 which holdstwo magconsequently any increase in resistance caused netic cores 2 and 3 having enlarged polepieces :0 bysuch'corrosion may prevent the gravitational 2 and 3 which 'are secured to the insulating 7k movement of the armature to its-de-energized pomember 1,such as by screws not shown herein. sition thereby greatly endangering trafiic move- The cores 2 and 3 carry coils 4 and 5 respectively, ments by effecting a falseclear indication. and the magnetic circuit between the cores is In view of, the above and other considerations, closed at the top by yokes of magnetic material it is proposed in accordancewith the present inwhich are not shown herein but are fully shown 9 vention to construct a relay having an armature and described in the above mentioned patent. An supporting means which permits free operating aramture 6 is supported as later described so as movement of the armature, and yet which is subto be attractable against the pole faces 2 and 3 stantially not afiected by corrosion and in which by the energization of the coils 4 and 5, and tthe 3o" wear and friction in operation is entirely elimiarmature 6 isbiased by gravity to a lower position 95 nated. It is also proposed to provide such a supshown in Fig. 4 when the coils are ie-energized. porting means which holds the armature in a It isto be understood that a plurality of contacts manner assuring a particular operating relation of any suitable type may be mounted on the relative to the operating means regardless of the armature 6 but only a single contact finger26 position of the relay, and in which, such supporthas been shown as mounted thereon by insulating no ing means is conveniently adjustable to obtain connectors 27 which hold inserted metallic screws uniform and accurate operating characteristics. 28 threaded into the armature 6 (see Fig. 1) and Other objects, purposesand characteristic feainsulated metallic screws 29 which hold the contures of the present invention will appear as the t finger 6 y n ts 30- In rd t s mp y description thereof progresses, during which refthe disclosure, the fixed contacts associated wi h 96 erences will be made to the accompanying draw the contact finger 26 are conveniently shown as ingsy in 1 I a front point 30 and a back point 31. The lower Fig; 1 is a sectional side elevational view of part F Y y be c osed by a glass cover a relay constructed in accordance with the pres- 32 whmh 13 held agamst the top msula'tmg em invention I i a lfi tl l igggming memberB which is 100 2 seCt1ona1p1.an mew taken p afi substantially U-shaped, as shownin Fig. 2, is a P of i 1 and t 8 held on each side to the top insulating member 1 direction mdicated by thearrows. by screws 9 and 10 passing through elongated 50 3 15 an end elevatwnal v of a holes 33' in the member 8. The legs of the U- taken substantially on line 3- -3 of Fig. 1 showing Shapedarmature Supporting member 3 which the armature in i attrafited Position tend along the outside of the pole pieces 2' and 3 Fig. 4 is a vi w of Fig; 3 Showing the armature are bent downwardly to form feet 11 and 12 in its unattracted position. which are shaped as shown in Fig. 3, and a brace 55; Fig. 5 is an exploded perspective view, of the 13 is riveted to the ends of the downwardly ex:

tending feet 11 and 12 with the center portion of the brace 13 fixed to the central portion of the armature supporting member 8 by rivets 14.

Two brackets 17 and 18 are riveted to opposite ends of the armature 6 and extend to the rear of the pole pieces 2 and 3 where rectangular shaped ends 1'7 and 18 extend outwardly at right angles thereto, which may be clearly seen in Fig. 5. Vertical flexible strips 21 and 22 are fixed at their upper ends to the rectangular armature bracket portions 17 and 18 respectively by rivets 19, and the lower ends are held by rivets 20 between the brace 13 and the feet 11 and 12 respectively by rivets 20. Horizontal flexible strips 23 and 24 also connect the armature 6 to holding member 8 outside the vertical strips 21 and 22 and are held at one end to their respective rectangular bracket portionst 1'7 and 18 by rivets 16 and the other end is held to their respective armature holding legs 11 and 12 by rivets 15. These flexible strips 21, 22, 23 and 24 are of thin spring material, such as phosphor bronze, and of a predetermined width and thickness which will rigidly support the armature and yet have suflicient lateral flexibility to allow a slight movement of the armature relative to the pole pieces 2 and 3 The armature supporting member 8 is adjustably mounted on the screws 9 and 10 by upper nuts 34 and lower nuts 35 which obviously permit vertical adjustment of the member 6 on the screws 9 and 10 whereby the air gap between the pole pieces 2 and 3 may be varied. A slight horizontal adjustment of the armature supporting member 8 is also permitted by the elongated holes 33 (see Fig. 2) through which the screws 9 and 10 pass thereby all-owing the armature to be accurately positioned beneath the pole pieces 2 and 3 The arrangement of the flexible armature mounting strips is more clearly shown in the perspective view of one side of the armature shown in Fig. 5, and when such an arrangement is applied to each side of the armature, it will be obvious that the armature is pivotally operable relative to the pole pieces about what may be termed a phantom pivot point located at the crossing point of the horizontal and vertical flexible strips. It is obviously necessary for operation of the armature to locate the vertical flexible strips in laterally spaced relation to the vertical axis of the operating electro-magnets, and it is further obvious that the horizontal flexible strips are necessary to maintain a definite operation of the armature because otherwise the armature might shift horizontally due to vibration or other causes and vary the operating characteristics due to the indefinite relation between the pole pieces and armature or between the fixed and movable contacts.

A relay armature supporting means has thus been provided which permits non-frictional operation of the armature and in which the resistance offered to such operation is constant and not affected by rust or corrosion which may prevent operation of an armature supported by a frictional armature pivoting means. An important feature of the present invention is the use of both horizontal and vertical flexible armature mounting strips which provide a stable armature support comparable with that obtained from frictional pivots, such as trunnions. A means for adjusting the position of an armature thus supported has also been provided which enables the armature to be accurately positioned re a ve '90 the operating means in both horizontal and vertical planes whereby a relay having uniform and accurate operating characteristics may be obtained.

The above rather specific description of one form of the present invention is given solely by way of example, and is not intended, in any man ner whatsoever, in a limiting sense. It is also to be understood that various modifications, adapta tions and alterations may be applied to meet the requirements of practice, without in any manner departing from the spirit or scope of the present invention, except as limited by the appended claims.

Having thus shown and described my invention, what I claim is:

1. In a relay, a vertical electro-magnet having horizontally spaced pole pieces, a frame, an armature, horizontal spring strips connecting the armature and said frame whereby the armature is maintained in a definite horizontal relation to said pole pieces, and vertical spring strips connecting said frame and points on said armature spaced horizontally from the axis of said electo-magnets whereby said armature is pivotably movable relative to said pole pieces by lateral flection of said horizontal and vertical spring strips.

2. In a relay, an insulating base member, an electro-magnet mounted above said base member and having pole pieces projecting beneath the base plate, an armature, an armature supporting member, adjustable means for mounting said armature supporting member to said base member, spaced brackets extending laterally from said armature, horizontal and vertical spring strips connecting said brackets and said armature supporting member to hold said armature beneath said pole pieces whereby said armature is operable relative to said pole pieces by lateral bending of said spring strips.

3. In a relay, a supporting member, an electromagnet mounted on said supporting member, an armature, an armature holding member, an adjustable means for mounting said armature holding member on said supporting member, a pair of spaced laterally flexible members connecting said armature to said armature holding member and extending substantially at right angles to the line of traction of said electromagnet, and a second pair of spaced laterally flexible members connecting said armature to said armature holding member and extending substantially parallel to but spaced laterally from the line of traction of said electro-magnet.

4. In a relay, in combination, an electro-magnet, an armature, an armature holding member, spaced screws extending from said electro-magnet, adjustable means for mounting said armature holding member at various points along the extending portion of said screws, a pair of spaced flexible strips connecting said armature to said armature holding member, and a second pair of spaced flexible strips connecting said armature to said armature holding member but angularly disposed with respect to said first pair of flexible strips. I

5. In a relay, in combination, an electro-magnet, an armature, spaced screws extending from said electro-magnet, an armature holding member having elongated holes receiving said screws, adjustable means for mountnig said armature holding member at various points along the extending portion of said screws and permitting adjustment of said armature holding member by the elongated holes therein in'a plane substantially at right angles to the axis of said screws, a pair of spaced flexible strips connecting said armature to said armature holding member, and a second pair of spaced flexible strips connecting said armature to said armature holding member but angularly disposed with respect to said first pair of flexible strips.

6. In a relay, an electro-magnet, an armature, a first and a second pair of flexible strips holding said armature in operable relation to said electro-magnet, said second pair of flexible strips being angularly disposed relative to said first pair of flexible strips whereby to form a virtual pivot for said armature.

'7. A relay comprising an electro-magnet, an armature, and a non-frictional spring means including a plurality of angularly positioned spring strips each rigidly fixed to the armature for forming a virtual pivot for holding said armature in operable relation to said electro-magnet.

8. In a relay, in combination with an electromagnet, an armature, an armature holding member, a pair of spaced flexible strips connecting said armature to said armature holding member, and a second pair of spaced flexible strips connecting said armature to said armature holding member and angularly disposed with respect to said first pair of flexible strips.

OSCAR S. FIELD. 

